New Music: Mamastrocity - Artessential Intelligence

 

Here's one that slipped through the cracks for me!

Mamastrosity is a producer and director who is currently signed to Abstract Rude's "Keep The Feel" label. I had no idea who she was until I found out about her at an Abbey Rude show last night. As far as I know, "Artessential Intelligence" is her debut album. 

With a lot of Abbey's artists, it seems, there's a certain dancehall/reggae flavor that doesn't always get pulled off properly (to the degree that Abbey has made it work for himself at least.) No such issue with Mamastrosity. Her beats are very electronic based but also very conducive for choppers to rhyme over. And they go hard here lol. On the rhyming side of things, Mamastrosity calls upon some big left coast legends like Myka 9, Scarub, Ellay Khule, Big Arch (yep Big Arch!,) and of course Abstract Rude. 

At the show, she got a small set and was otherwise running around filming the acts and b-girling! Check out the project below!

[On a side note, the starZs aligned at the Abstract Rude show and I got to see Abstract Rude share the stage with DJ Zone, doing a song with cuts by DJ Zole, all while the pull down screen played the latest Project Blowed documentary, specifically, during this song, a session from Swim Team's DJ Zo!] 

Artessential Intelligence

New Music: Factor - Time Invested II

 

20 years ago, the GOAT producer Factor Chandelier, comin' straight outta Saskatoon, dropped his first official solo album, "Time Invested." Now, 20 years later, we finally get the sequel!

"Time Invested II" not only celebrates Factor's longevity in the game, as well as his birthday (the date on which the original and sequel dropped,) but also very successfully re-taps into the atmospheric folky prairie-hop that ran through the original (which a healthy dose of synths to update things.) 

On vocals, Factor calls upon some MCs who appeared on the original - Kirby Dominant, Sunspot Jonz, Kay The Aquanaut, Eligh, and Moka Only - as well as voices that have come to become Factor staples - Awol One, Ceschi, Def3, Myka 9. 

Everything about "Time Invested II" flows together so smoothly and both takes you back to the good ol days of 2000s underground rap while also continually proving how forward-thinking Factor is as an artist. Pay what you want for it below!

Time Invested II

New Music: VA - Project Blowed Hardcore Street Hop Division Vol. 2

 

Here's a new one for you! 

Seemingly out of nowhere, we get a follow up to the Ellay Khule curated 2014 "Street Hop Division" compilation. And, even more so than the original, Khule has brought out a lot of Blowed vets/affiliates to grace the album including Jizzm, AllCityJimmy (fka Nocando,) Alph Tha Alien (fka Alpha MC,) Myka 9, Mister CR, Ngafsh, Gel Roc, Quaesar, Monstroe, and many others. German legend Taktloss even stops by! 

As noted, I'm not really sure the origins of this project, but I think it might have been released on the hype derived from the recent Project Blowed vs Talib Kweli beef. The recent diss track "Overkill" from Khule and Myka 9 appears on the album as the first single. A lot of the tracks (based on pop culture references) seem to be newly recorded as well.

I'm not a huge fan of the limited production on this one (especially at 19 tracks deep,) but I will never not love the chopper styles that these guys bring. Stream it below (I believe Khule will have CDs available soon as well.)

Project Blowed Hardcore Street Hop Division Vol. 2 

Awol One - Toilet Water (1998)

 

I never knew much about this one. It's a cassette single-esque release from the thousand year old MC Awolrus One from 1998 under Broken Records. The man had been dropping stuff prior to this but this is certainly an early release. It looks like it may have been a radio/label handout. Fat Jack and Mike Nardone handle the production. 

Below are two rips of the tape. One is an unsliced rip that I believe I got from KaliyugaPro a decade ago. The second rip is an online one with the individual tracks. If anyone has anymore info on this release (or a physical copy they want to sell) drop it in the comments! Enjoy!

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Factor, Factor, and Factor Oh My!

 

2020 hasn't brought us much good (good job last Tuesday tho folks,) but one small solace can be found in the great Factor Chandelier (the best producer OAT imo) seemingly channeling his 2010 self and dropping numerous gems on us throughout the year. For those at home keeping score, here's what he's given us thus far:

Factor started things off with his solo release "First Storm," which featured some great tracks from Onry Ozzborn, Mestizo, and Cadence Weapon among others. From there, he switched things up and gave us a super solid boom bappy EP with Dope KNife in "Kill Factory." He then gave us an EP with Crabstyle MC LOGS, "Voyager," and an EP with Cali legend Myka 9, "People Into Making Progress," which coincided with a vinyl release of the duo's 2009 album, "1969" via Fake Four. Most recently, he collaborated with Oldominion rapper Diveyede on the EP "Goldbloom," a dark gothicy soundscape. And if all that wasn't enough, he's got a new instrumental album dropping later this month, available for pre-order now, called "Eastlake" (I was lucky enough to hear this and it's crazy!) And of course, there's singles in the mix too, my favorites being "DRKWLKR" from Ceschi + Siul Hughes and "Purple Bruise" from Dex Riley. 

So if your backlog is long, thanks in no small part to all these Bandcamp Fridays, and you haven't gotten around to all these releases yet - make sure to make them a priority! 

Myka 9 - Where Would You Be Single (2008?)

I love CD singles ("full length" singles that is) and I wish we saw them more in indie rap. It forces an artist to give you a bite sized amount of music that can't hide behind a greater album and, hopefully, you also get some exclusives that you won't be able to find elsewhere (whether it's the actual track or instrumentals/acapellas/remixes/what have you.) And best of all, they're much easier to rip than vinyl!

Today, I bring you Myka 9's "Where Would You Be" CD single. The single collects three songs from Myka 9's "Mykology" album and said songs' instrumental versions (produced by Organized Elements.) We get the homie tribute title track, the weedy "Trimmings," and the boastful "Breathing Down Your Back." Now, "Mykology" is far from my favorite Myka 9 album, and these three tracks aren't even amongst the best tracks on that album imo. Nevertheless, mediocre Myka 9 is still usually solid music and such is the case here.

Curiously, this single appears to have come out in 2008 (based on the dating on the physical covers) but "Mykology" didn't come out until 2011. I suppose this single was super early promo for the album! I'm guessing the album was pretty much wrapped in 2008, the single dropped, and then label shopping went bad or something, and the album was pushed back year after year until 2011.

Anyhow, enjoy this rarity - personally ripped by myself!

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